Wender·Vista
Bologna
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
in Emilia-Romagna, between Florence and Venice

Bologna

— — red roofs and forty kilometres of arcade.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Bologna keeps two colours: terracotta roofs and the deep red of its old brick. The porticoes run for forty kilometres through the centre, sheltering walkers in any weather. Towers lean from the medieval quarter. The food markets along Via Pescherie Vecchie open early; the university, the oldest in the Western world, sets the rhythm of the streets. — from the studio

from the studio
Bologna
— bring it home

Bologna, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Bologna

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Capital of Emilia-Romagna in north-central Italy, with around 390,000 residents in the commune and roughly a million across the metropolitan area. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest continually operating university in the Western world. The historic centre holds nearly forty kilometres of porticoes, recognized by UNESCO in 2021 as a World Heritage Site. The city sits at the southern edge of the Po Valley, with the Apennine foothills rising to the south. The compact medieval core remains largely walkable end to end.

— informed by UNESCO, Comune di Bologna
— the stone

The medieval centre was once a forest of stone towers; about twenty remain of an estimated 180 from the city's height. The Two Towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, stand side by side near Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. Asinelli rises 97 metres and leans 2.2 metres off plumb; Garisenda, shorter at 47 metres, leans more sharply and was reduced for safety in the fourteenth century. The basilica of San Petronio, begun in 1390, fronts the central Piazza Maggiore with its unfinished brick facade and bare upper half.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the air

Bologna carries three nicknames, all earned: la Dotta (the learned), la Grassa (the fat), la Rossa (the red). The food culture runs through the Quadrilatero market and out into the trattorie of the surrounding hills: tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo, mortadella thinly sliced. The Modena and Parma food corridors lie within an hour's drive. Markets open by seven; the porticoes shelter walkers in rain and summer heat alike. The air smells of espresso, baked dough, and warm stone.

— informed by Britannica
— where
Italy · Bologna, Emilia-Romagna
— elevation
54 m · 177 ft
— position
44.4949° N · 11.3426° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Piazza Maggiore
square
at the lake
Two Towers
medieval towers
at the lake
San Petronio Basilica
basilica
1 km E
University Quarter
district
4 km SW
Santuario della Madonna di San Luca
hilltop sanctuary
N
Bologna
Piazza Maggiore
Two Towers
San Petronio Basilica
University Quarter
Santuario della Madonna di San Luca
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Bologna — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

For the terracotta roofs and red-brick walls that define the historic centre. The colour is the city's signature, predating any political reading and traceable to at least the medieval period.

Founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the Western world. Dante, Copernicus, and Petrarch all studied there. Current enrolment is around 90,000 students.

Roughly 40 kilometres of porticoes thread the historic centre and another 22 kilometres run outside it. The longest single covered walk leads 3.8 kilometres uphill to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca.

Both cities have leaning towers. Pisa's bell tower is the famous one. Bologna's Garisenda leans more sharply but is shorter; its taller neighbour Asinelli also tilts visibly off plumb.

Tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in brodo, and mortadella are the classics. The Quadrilatero market between Piazza Maggiore and the Two Towers is the historic food district, with stalls open by mid-morning.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The red of the brick and the line of the porticoes are unmistakable to anyone who has spent time there. A Medium or Large with a handwritten note carries the city's particular warmth.

The terracotta and brick reds pair with jewel-tone maximalism, warm mid-century interiors, and Tuscan-modern rooms. The piece holds against walnut, brass, and the deeper kitchen palettes that have come back into vogue.

Yes. The warm-maximalist turn favours saturated earth tones over the cool greys of the past decade. Bologna's reds sit at the centre of that palette without reading as costume.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural. Above a console, a Medium or a landscape Triptych. A nine-tile Mural anchors a full feature wall in a dining room.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist scratches and humidity. Choose Glossy for dry feature walls; Dura Satin for backsplashes and steam-prone rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth, dry or barely damp with water. No solvents, no abrasives. The colour is inside the ceramic surface, beneath a thin protective finish.

Yes. Every piece in the atlas is the work of Reid Wender. No licensing, no third-party stock. One studio, one eye, one slowly growing catalog of places.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.
— a collection

The Italian Dolomites,
painted slow.

The valleys between Cortina and Val Gardena, the tarns you walk an hour to see, the towers that turn the colour of a banked fire just before dark. Wander the collection by valley, by season, or follow the path Reid walked.

Tre Cime
Braies
Misurina
Sorapis
Cinque Torri
Sassolungo
Marmolada